Erickson, Liu Burn Up The Nets Wilbur-Creston, St. George’s Reach Semifinals With Easy Wins

Alyssa Erickson did what Katie Davis couldn’t do and Wenchi Liu couldn’t believe she did.

Erickson scored 28 points to carry Wilbur-Creston to a 63-41 win over Wahkiakum in the quarterfinals of the girls State B basketball tournament Thursday night.

The Wildcats will face St. George’s, because the 5-foot-4 Liu scored 19 of her 25 points in the first half and got help from her friends to turn back Davis and the Manson Trojans 64-49.

“I played out of my mind,” Liu said. “I’ve never had 19 points in a half. I just felt like I was in a dream, every shot was going in.”

Wilbur-Creston and St. George’s, though they came out of the District 7 Tournament as the second and third seeds behind top-ranked Ritzville, will meet for the first time tonight at 7 at the Arena.

It will be an all-District 7 semifinal as Sprague-Harrington beat Sunnyside Christian 46-35 and defending champion Ritzville ran its winning streak to 37 games with a 46-26 win over Morton.

Wilbur-Creston’s win wasn’t a surprise, if only because the Wildcats reached the championship game against Ritzville last year. The same can’t be said about St. George’s, which was facing a team led by possibly the best player in the tournament in Davis, a 6-1 point guard who opened the tournament with 32 points.

Liu put the Trojans on their heels with her first-half barrage that included a rare four-point play when she was fouled swishing a 3-pointer. The four-pointer came in the midst of an 11-0 run to end the first quarter when she had seven points and the Dragons took a 17-12 lead. Manson came back to lead 23-22 but Liu immediately responded with a 3 and St. George’s never trailed again.

Davis wasn’t about to go down without a fight and she scored Manson’s first 17 points of the second half, including all 13 in the third quarter, but that’s when St. George’s top scorer, Miranda Routh-Corker came to life.

She moved from forward to post and scored 12 of her 16 points.

“(Liu) is a dynamo, she really frustrated us tonight,” Manson coach Frank Alexander said. “(Liu and Routh-Corker), those are the people we knew would hurt us. We just had a difficult time stopping them.”

Meanwhile, Davis was getting no help other than Shayla Gaytan’s nine points and nine assists because St. George’s scrambling press and 3-2 defense caused 23 turnovers that led to 28 points.

Alyssa Henley, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds, created much of the havoc by playing the top of the zone. At 5-11, any ballhandler other than Davis struggled to find an opening, allowing Liu to get five steals and Samantha Clark four.

“They didn’t have a second shooter to keep us honest,” St. George’s coach Ross Thomas said.

When Davis gave up the ball and went to the corner, the Dragons went out on her and the Trojans never found the hole in the zone.

Davis finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, but the night belonged to Liu, a sophomore who matched her career high.

“This is a dream come true,” she said. “I’ve been coming to (state) since fifth-grade. This is where it’s at, this is where it counts.”

Erickson had a similar half for Wilbur-Creston, scoring 20 points as the Wildcats opened a 29-20 lead. She had 17 points when she went out with 1:31 to play and her team up 10. The lead was six when Wahkiakum turned the ball over under its own basket with 4.5 seconds left. Erickson returned and promptly drained a 3.

“She’s the type of person if it’s not going on the outside, she’ll take it to the hole until we get it going again,” WC coach Bethany Hopkins said.

The lead was 16 points 3 minutes into the third quarter when the Wildcats went cold. They missed eight shots, turned the ball over four times and went scoreless for 5:16 but the Mules could only respond with five points.

It didn’t help that 6-3 Wahkiakum post Sarah Buehler had three fouls in the first half, but the Mules didn’t go to her much.

“We didn’t go to our strength enough,” Mules coach Ed Bate said. “We took it inside and kind of had some success, then we went away from it. Sarah got in foul trouble but we can stick Sam (Samantha Elven) inside.”

The Mules had a quick eight points, starting and ending with 3s from sophomore Gabe Johnston, to pull within three with 3:31 to play. The Wildcats called a time out, set up a play and Erickson calmly hit Lisa Arden, who had been struggling, for a 3-pointer from the right wing and the Mules never recovered.

“Lisa’s our senior,” Hopkins said. “You have to give her a chance. No one’s going to have a good game if you don’t give them a shot.

Erickson said, “I knew Lisa would stop up and make the shot, she’s clutch.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: These 4 sidebars appeared with the story:

1. STATE B ONLINE Track the State B tournaments from the opening tips to the championship games on Spokane.net, an online service of The Spokesman-Review. Point your browser to http://www.spokane.net/stateb

2. ON THE RADIO 10:20 a.m.: Shoreline Christian vs. Waitsburg (KKPL 630). 11:50: Napavine vs. Tekoa-Oakesdale (KKPL 630). 1:20 p.m.: Wahkiakum vs. Manson (KKPL 630). 2:50: Sunnyside Christian vs. Morton (KKPL 630). 6:50: Wilbur-Creston vs. St. George’s (KKPL 630). 8:20: Sprague-Harrington vs. Ritzville (KKPL 630).

3. TODAY’S GAMES 10:30 a.m.: Shoreline Chr. (21-7) vs. Waitsburg (19-7) Noon: Napavine (21-4) vs. Tekoa-Oakesdale (25-4) 1 p.m.: Wahkiakum (18-7) vs. Manson (19-6) 3 p.m.: Sunnyside Christian (19-5) vs. Morton (19-8) 7 p.m.: Wilbur-Creston (18-7) vs St. George’s (23-5) 8:30 p.m.: Spr.-Harrington (19-10) vs Ritzville (27-0)

4. Shoreline Christian 46, Darrington 43 Key to the game: Karen Glover scored 19 points and the Crusaders made 11 of 15 free throws in the second half to defeat the Loggers for the third time this year. Other highlights: The Crusaders shot 24 percent in the first half (5-21) but warmed up to 53 percent (10-19) in the second. The Loggers, who live by the 3, were 0-5 from behind the arc in the second half and 2-11 for the game. Angie Meece ended her career with 15 points, falling six short of the 100-point Club. Darrington made nine of 22 free throws. Darrington 11 8 10 14 -43 Shoreline Chr. 4 10 15 17 -46 DARRINGTON - K.Green 0, Meece 15, Buell 0, Holz 0, L.Green 2, Kuper 11, Rankin 15, Wesson 0, Grimmer 0. SHORELINE CHRISTIAN - Vander Linden 6, Goold 2, Glover 19, Morse 0, Lamont 2, Prins 8, Paris 7, Andreasen 2.

Waitsburg 62, Cedar Park Christian 48 Key to the game: The Cardinals’ posts, Anne Bickelhaupt and Kynde Klefel, combined for 32 points and Kelly McCaw grabbed 10 rebounds. Other highlights: Waitsburg decided the outcome early, scoring the first 15 points. The Eagles closed within 14 at the half but the Cardinals shot 52 percent in the second half for the win. Amy Taylor scored 22 points for the Eagles, with four assists. Waitsburg 16 12 22 12 -62 Cedar Park Chr. 4 10 12 22 -48 WAITSBURG - Jones 4, Hulee 5, Ryckman 0, Smith 0, Abbey 7, McCaw 9, Seney 0, Cunz 2, Buckelliaupt 17, Klefel 15, Conover 15, Lambert 0. CEDAR PARK CHRISTIAN - Wall 2, Salios 3, King 0, Taylor 22, Raynor 5, Vallerand 4, Lunstrom 4, Kruse 0, Hazard 8.

Napavine 40, Orcas I. 26 Key to the game: Carrie Spencer scored 14 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter and the Tigers overcame 21 turnovers to pull away from the Vikings. Other highlights: Orcas Island only made 12 of 50 shots and one of four free throws. The Trojans made 10 of 13 free throws. The Vikings were one of nine from 3-point range, compared to 0-2 for the winners. Orcas Island 5 9 4 8 -26 Napavine 6 12 6 16 -40 ORCAS ISLAND - Taylor 6, Hutchison 2, Anderson 2, Grossman 9, Rosell 2, Edwards 0, Mahoney 0, Gilbertson 2, Janin 0, Ruteledge 0, Armstrong 3. NAPAVINE - Mummert 0, Moon 0, Snodderly 0, Sweeny 2, Cain 0, Boling 6, Voie 2, Winslow 0, Wichart 0, Spencer 25, Russell 5, Jones 0.

Tekoa-Oakesdale 63, Cascade Chr. 61 (OT) Key to the game: Heather Cox had 16 of her 23 points after halftime and she and Christa Graffis had 11 rebounds each, including seven each on the offensive end, as the Nighthawks pulled out the win. Other highlights: The Cougars made 24 of 38 free throws and shot 44 percent to give the state veteran Nighthawks all they could handle. TO shot only 31 percent (22-71). Sophomore Kristen List led the Cougars with 17 points, junior Jodi Gerald had 15 and freshman Jackie Shively 13 with a team-high eight rebounds. The Cougars have one senior on their roster, Jessie Overland, who hit the basket with 8 seconds left to force the overtime. Tek-Oak 12 17 11 14 10 -63 Cascade C 14 15 12 12 8 -61 TEKOA-OAKESDALE - K.Driscoll 7, S.Driscoll 8, Smart 1, Brown 2, Hay 11, Graffis 4, Je.Bruce 7, Ja.Bruce 0, Cox 23. CASCADE CHRISTIAN - Ramento 0, Brown 0, Shively 13, Overland 8, Fuhrmann 0, McDermott 4, List 17, Gerald 15, Johnson 4.

Wilbur-Creston 53, Wahkiakum 41 Key to the game: Alyssa Erickson had 28 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals for the Wildcats, who held 6-3 Sarah Buehler to six points and five rebounds. Other highlights: The Wildcats, up by 14 three minutes into the second half, went scoreless the rest of the quarter but the Mules never cashed and still trailed 38-29. When the Mules closed within three after Gabe Johnston started and ended an 8-0 spurt with 3-pointers, Lisa Arden hit a 3 for WC after a timeout and Erickson scored six of the final points for the Wildcats. Wahkiakum 14 6 9 12 -41 Wilbur-Creston 13 16 9 15 -53 WAHKIAKUM - Hose 0, Johnson 21, Almer 0, Nelson 4, Elven 8, Teachman 0, Hendrickson 0, Cochran 2, Buehler 6, McNally 0. WILBUR-CRESTON - Sherwood 0, Harris 2, Deahl 2, Dreger 8, Erickson 28, Arden 7, Aubertin 2, Nelson 4.

St. George’s 64, Manson 49 Key to the game: The Trojans had the best big player - 6-1 Katie Davis scored 25 points - but the Dragons had the most good players - 5-4 Wenchi Liu matched Davis, Miranda Routh-Corker had 16 points and Alyssa Henley had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Other highlights: Manson had won 18 straight and hadn’t allowed more than 56 points but 23 turnovers doomed the Trojans. The Dragons also hit 18 of 24 free throws, including 10 of 13 in the first half when the cat-quick Liu scored 18 points. Routh-Corker, St. George’s top scorer, had four in the first half and Davis six. Shayla Guyton had nine assists for Manson. St. George’s 17 15 14 18 -64 Manson 12 13 14 11 -49 ST. GEORGE’S - Liu 25, Clarke 6, Stothard 0, Henley 11, Blume 2, Grant 0, Nielson 2, DePonty 2, Routh-Corker 16, Kutteruf 0, Moore 0. MANSON - Guerra 0, Koenig 0, E.Foster 0, M.Foster 2, Nelson 0, Zuluga 0, Davis 25, England 2, Johnson 9, Gayton 9, Weagant 2, Simpson 0.

Sprague-Harr. 46, Sunnyside Chr. 35 Key to the game: Sprague-Harrington’s harassing defense was too much for Sunnyside Christian. The Falcons forced 32 turnovers and held the Knights to 33 shots from the field. The smaller Falcons also outrebound Sunnyside Christian 37-35 with Kristy Engles grabbing a game-high 14. Mandi Walters struggled from the field, hitting 4 of 17 shots, but still finished with a game-high 12 points. Heather Den Boer, with 10 points, was the only Knight to score in double figures. Other highlights: A big reason Sprague-Harrington got off 27 more shots from the floor was its offensive rebounding. The Falcons grabbed 19 compared to five for the Knights. Sunnyside Chr. 8 8 13 6 35 Sprague-Harr. 9 8 12 17 46 SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN - Marx 0, Apol 0, Martin 7, Den Hoed 6, Matson 0, Smeenk 2, Wind 0, Harris 0, Elenbaas 6, Den Boer 10, De Groot 2. SPRAGUE-HARRINGTON - Maurer 0, Whipple 10, Ernst 0, Walters 12, Charlton 0, Hatten 10, Harding 0, Hatcher 0, Engles 9, Morse 0, Scoles 5.

Ritzville 46, Morton 26 Key to the game: Ritzville got off and running early, jumping out to an 11-0 lead and coasting the rest of the way. Megan Yerxa rebounded from a 4-point effort in the opening round, tossing in a game-high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, in just 14 minutes of playing time. The Broncos outrebounded the Huskies 38-27 and held Morton to 22 percent (11-50) shooting from the field. Other highlights: Morton did a good job of protecting the ball with just 10 turnovers, but it took until the third quarter for the Huskies to crack the double figure barrier on the scoreboard. Yerxa and Jamie Alspach combined for 17 rebounds in 2-plus quarters. Morton’s bench outscored the Broncos bench 11-10. Ritzville 11 16 9 10 46 Morton 1 8 5 12 26 RITZVILLE - Wellsandt 3, Warriner 0, Sackmann 5, Weber 0, Horpedahl 0, Fitch 7, Gibler 0, Russel 8, Yerxa 13, Alspach 8, Janzen 2, Zicha 0. MORTON - Krista 2, J.Coleman 2, P.Schillinger 6, McKenzie 0, Johnson 3, C.Schillinger 0, Sheperd 0, Krotczyk 2, Finley 3, Richart 4, L.Coleman 4.

This and that This is the 20th anniversary of the first girls B tournament, when Buddy Gibson’s Oakesdale team, that included daughter Angie, won the title. The ‘78 Panthers are saluted in this year’s program. Gibson? He’s still around, serving as assistant tournament director. Wilbur-Creston’s Ronee Deahl and Lisa Arden are playing in their fourth consecutive State B. No one else in this tourney can say that… . Darrington scoring machine Angie Meece, who topped 1,500 career points, is in her third.